Questions for oncologist

nanabolini

Recently diagnosed with 'triple negative' I'll see a ;medical oncologist this week. What are some good questions I should ask? about treatment?  Are there options, I wonder, for treatment? Also ...Is there anything you would have done differently?

FloridaLady

Your first visit your doctor will discuss your treatment options.  With early disease like you have he will probably give you more than one option.  Ask your doctor why he/she taking this approach and ask he/she if they have the current research that you can read.  This will mean they have read it too hopefully.

Right now there is not a set protocol for treatment for TN.  With disease like your that was found so early you will have a little more flexiablity on the approach they may want to take.  Most TN is Grade 3 and Stage II or higher when found and chemo ACT or ECT seems to be the first line of treatment still.  Some are adding Avastin in late stage trials.  You will found ladies doing many different protocols because the doctor's are still looking for the best way to approach TN.

Flalady

nanabolini

FloridaLady.  Thank you for responding.  Good advice.  I have another question maybe you could answer?  What is the rationale for doing chemo before radiation?  Initially I thought I going to do only rads, in fact doc said I might not need chemo.. Then TN was diagnosed when FISH came back negative and now it looks like chemo will be first. 

Heidi_Ho

Sorry to hear you have stage 4.  I started at stage 4 so I don't know what happens with reaccurance but by stage 4 they believe the cancer is in our blood and lymph system.  Rads cannot get the cancer there but chemo can.  I was diagnosed in March with extensive bone mets and a teeny tiny breast tumor 6mm.  They wanted to start with chemo to get the cancer under control but did rads to help with back pain before chemo.  I have now completed my 10th round of weekly taxol and still have back pain.  But recent PET show improvement so chemo is working.  

There is much to learn but the best analogy I've been given is to treat it as a condition.  We are going to live with this condition like a diabetic and treat our condition accordingly.  I would recommend looking through the treads.  Once your ONC and you determine a treatment plan there will be even more to read.  Best wishes, Heidi 

ddlatt

chemo kills the cancer cells in the bloodstream, and radiation kills cells in the tissues. some docs do give radiation before chemo. it all depends on the size of the tumor, among other considerations.  

 very informative websites about TN that might give you ideas of questions to ask your doc:

 http://www.hormonenegative.blogspot.com/

 http://www.tnbcfoundation.org/index.html

http://www.triplepink.org/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=31 

FloridaLady

Nanabolini,

Good question about rads and chemo.. When I started almost for years ago we did rads first than chemo.  Now thought is with TN is treat the whole body and than go back and do rads to clean up the area.  There are two sides to this whole rads thing.  I had a top breast surgeon tell me at a research clinic that when he goes back into the same area after rads that the tumor is caught in a web of damaged tissue and this will make it harder to get out.  But the other side for people like me who had chest wall recurrence the damaged for rads make it very hard for the chemo to get back into the rad area because of this tissue damage makes it hard for blood supply to move.

Let us kniow what you find out. I hope you find tx that you feel comfortable with and it kicks butt,

Flalady

susied

Have the BRCA gene test before treatment!! It may change the treatment plan. !